Salute to America

The City of Jefferson hosted an amazing Salute to America celebration July 3-4. My sister surprised us by showing up with her three little ones, so it made our time extra special.

With four kids in tow, ages six months, two two-year-olds and an eight-year-old, we made our way to downtown Jefferson City. July 3started with a parade featuring some marvelous bands from Minnesota, some antique firetrucks (and newer ones), and Star Wars characters. My question for parade organizers, what happened to the clowns?

After the parade we scoped out the rides to see what to plan for on July 4th, fed some animals at the petting zoo, and my son, Cale, road a pony. We washed our hands thoroughly and then bought some cotton candy and snow cones and headed to the south lawn of the Missouri State Capitol to see Aaron Tippin in concert. The concert was great; the kids, now pumped full of sugar, danced and played and had a great time.

The fourth of July brought some rain throughout the day, but by evening the rain had eased to only a few sprinkles here and there. You can’t go to a carnival without eating some of the great, greasy carnival food, so we bought a foot-long corn dog for each of us and amazingly finished them all. Next stop, the rides that included circling jet skis, antique cars, a small roller coaster, elephant swings, carousel of exotic animals, and the super slide. I had to go on the slide, too! It doesn’t seem as tall now that I am an adult, still fun though!

Night had fallen so we headed to the southwest corner of the Capitol to watch the fireworks. Kids and adults alike were in awe. The fireworks display was amazing. This year it included some smiley face fireworks. The best thing is this is really was a sky concert; the fireworks were in sync to great American songs. Soon as the fireworks were over, the sky opened up and the rain came down. Not many cities can control the weather, but obviously Jefferson City can.